Tuesday, April 1, 2008

A Dependent Nation

Ever since the election and ushering in of the new GOB, I keep hearing calls into the radio stations and people in conversation saying G.O.B needs to do this, or needs to do that and I can't help but think that most of us just sit around and wait for our government to do things for us. It gets me upset really because of the lack of initiative from our people and the expectancy that things will be done for us and it really isn't up to us to do somethings for ourselves.

Yes, government is responsible for many things when it comes to the needs of the country but if we as a people believe that when we woke up to a U.D.P country, that our responsibility as Belizeans ended there, then we are in for a rude awakening.

To be Belizean is far more crucial than just casting our very important vote on election day. It should carry through to our daily lives and how we take pride in the matters surrounding us. How many of us are active in our communities to see things get better? How many of us are mentors to disillusioned youth? How many of us partake in town/city council meetings to address issues in your area or take up the challenge of making sure our voice is heard? So many times the forum or stages is there for us to be active participants in the decision making or at least given the opportunity to vent our thoughts and frustrations and while some of us do take advantage of that, most of us are content with watching the activities unfold. Even long after the situation has become dire we still find in ourselves the ability to bitch and moan about our crosses in life but have no motivation to do something about it. We scoff at the Chinese/Taiwanese community with their shanty stores on every street corner but don't have the discipline to sacrifice a generation for the betterment of those to come.

Pipple seh life haad out ya... I don't believe we know what a hard life is yet, sad to say. I feel that we are complaining now because we have so long gotten fat off the tits of goodwill and charity that now when these aspects have become lean, we cry for help and more handouts. We complain about gas prices and high electricity rates in the privacy of our living rooms and expect the media houses and NGO's to champion our cause in the public forum. We fear the reality of what is to come and cry out for our government to do something about it.

I don't think we have the guts (for want of a better word) to objectively look at our lifestyles and see how to change the dependency of the way we live so as to better the way we live. We want it easy and we want it now in this world of $600 prepaid phones and living beyond our means. The keeping up with the Jones' has us hooked on the dream of living the good life while not feeling the need to work for it. In a country where we are quick to borrow the cultures of the US, we fail to see what makes us Belizean and what opportunities lay right before us. Far too often do we seek the "wise" accented words of paler faces than our own to guide us in a direction that we ourselves know to take.

Gimme gimme is our motto, as irritating as the song it reminds me of. Many fingers can be pointed for this mindset but regardless as to who you think is to blame for how we got here... we are to blame for staying this way. Its is time we take pride in being a citizen of this country and realize that the very opportunity of being a Belizean also comes with some responsibility.

Break the cycle! Get involved with your community! Know what is going on in your government! Hold them and yourselves to the highest standard! Love Belize for the jewel everyone claims it to be and maybe, just maybe things can better for ourselves.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

couldn't have said it better myself

You Betta Belize It! said...

excellent blog! Str8 to the point and includes things that have been mumbled "in the privacy of our living rooms" for so long but never actually said out there because of the fear of stepping on toes... it's time for Belizeans to start some criticism of ourselves and improve from there!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the comments and yes, it is time we started speaking out in every which way possible. Discuss amongst ourselves. Be confident in the ideas you have and share them. Use the different mediums available to get those thoughts out. Share with others the resources you find (such as this blog) so as to get the movement rolling.

No more hanging our heads down without a voice.

The Voice said...

Voice?

Here I am!

Anonymous said...

hello captain obvious!

it is the belizean way ... and it's unfortunate ...

i guess they came up with "gimme tenk you" for a reason

the funny thing is most belizeans i've talked to completely deny this aspect of their mentalities and cultures. and funny enough, the people who HAVE acknowledged this belizean tendency to live above their means are guilty of doing just that!

a lot of times people don't notice the splinter in their own eye before trying to pick out the splinters of others

that's why i say many belizeans are ungrateful -they want and they want and when they get it's never enough. we are a country that has, as you very aptly put it, been sucking on some very fat teats for more years than i've been alive ... we've been living on handouts and loans and charity ... but everyone "goh dah fareign" ... everyone has iphones (which don't even have net access in bz) and ipods (which in the old models are cheap ... but no, everyone has the newest one that costs 800 bz) ... everyone di circle and boom out music when gas is almost 10 bucks a gallon ... things are hard because we choose to make it that way.

*shrug* ... how do you help people who won't help themselves?

Anonymous said...

wow ok, it's not about being unable to help those who won't help themselves, it's about how all of us have contributed in some way to our current situation, and so now we all have to play a role. so I have to ask myself what will I as a Belizean do, to see the kind of Belize I want to live in.

and excuse you but, "gimme tenk yu" is NOT the Belizean way!

i agree we need to analyse what's happening in our country and make commitments as individuals and as a people about what we will do to effect change.